The invention relates to liquid treatment of fiber material and concerns, for instance, the dyeing or bleaching of yarn in the shape of crosswound bobbins, or pieces in the shape of rolls, or also loose material which, for instance, may be treated when packaged, with the invention having herein its objective in achieving a treatment time shorter than required hitherto, and effecting savings by reducing expenditure.
It is known how to perform liquid treatment of fiber material, for instance dyeing and bleaching of textile material, by applying a vacuum in such a manner that the material to be treated is placed into a container, the container evacuated and the preheated treatment fluid then filled into the container, as described in DE Letters Patent No. 19 27 651 and the corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 3,631,691. Since the air contained in the material is removed to the greatest extent by evacuation, the fluid will penetrate the material with greater facility. During the subsequent treatment phase, the fluid is then circulated by means of a pump arranged outside of the container and connected to two chambers arranged within the container, with both chambers being in communication only through the fiber material to be treated, so that, respectively, the treatment liquor or fluid will forcibly be conducted through the material under treatment and the treatment fluid will come into as close as possible a contact with the entire fiber material. This mechanically induced fluid flow will require a considerable quantity of mechanical energy and also costly equipment of the apparatus with a pump, piping and valves, the more so since it has been found that a repeated change of the direction of flow through the fiber material is required in order to obtain the highest possible degree of uniformity in the treatment of the fiber material.